Solar panel tariff appeal loss for government

The government has lost an appeal over its plan to cut subsidies for solar panels on homes.

The appeal, launched in January, was against a High Court ruling that blocked government plans to halve the payments made to households with solar panels.The government says these feed-in tariffs are at an unsustainably high level.

It would have hit customers who installed panels after 12 December.Under the feed-in tariffs programme, people in Britain with solar panels are paid for the electricity they generate.

The new tariff of 21p per kilowatt-hour, down from the current 43p, had been expected to come into effect from 1 April, but in October the government said it would be paid to anyone who installed their solar panels after 12 December.

The government announced a consultation on the proposals which closed on 23 December.

The High Court ruled that changing the tariffs before the end of an official consultation period was "legally flawed".